Short Tracks: Roush Honoured
On Friday, March 12, Jack Roush received the highest compliment in the hot rod world when he was presented with the Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award. The ceremony took place during the grand opening breakfast of the 12th Annual Hot Rod & Restoration Trade Show in front of nearly one thousand attendees at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.
“Being named a recipient of the Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award is obviously a tremendous distinction and something completely unexpected,” Roush said. “I remember Robert (Petersen) always being a great ambassador for the auto industry and hot rods. It is an honour to be mentioned among the many legendary names who have received this award in the past.”
The Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award has been presented annually since 2002. Previous recipients include Wally Parks (NHRA), Carroll Shelby, George Barris, Vic Edelbrock, the Ford family, Alex Xydias (So-Cal Speed Shop), and “Speedy” Bill Smith (Speedway Motors).
“We are very excited to have Jack Roush as the recipient of our 2010 Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award. This is one of the most prestigious awards in our industry because it is only given to true pioneers like Jack, whose love of technology and the automobile has been a benefit to all of us who crave performance,” said Travis Weeks, group publisher, HotRod & Restoration magazine.
In addition to the highly-visible NASCAR entries of Roush Fenway Racing, Jack Roush also has a number of automotive-related companies in his hometown of Livonia, Mich. Among them is ROUSH® Industries, a Tier One supplier of engineering, testing and manufacturing services to all the “Big Three” manufacturers, and ROUSH Performance which produces high-performance vehicles, parts, and exotic crate engines. The crate engines can be highly customized per owner preference and are the choice of many hot rod and Cobra replicar builders such as Chip Foose, Roy Brizio, the RingBrothers and Superformance.
Roush has previously been inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame (2010), the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame (2008), the International Motorsports Hall of Fame (2006), the Mustang Hall of Fame (2002), and the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame (1992).
Earlier this year Roush also was one of five recipients of a coveted 2010 Distinguished Service Citation from the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Mich. This award recognizes an individual who has significantly improved the industry or their respective organization.
Roush’s numerous educational and philanthropic activities include establishment of the Jack Roush Motorsports Scholarship fund at Clemson University, which is dedicated to supporting graduate and undergraduate students in their pursuit of motorsports-related degrees.
Based in Livonia, Mich., “The Art of Performance Engineering” takes place at ROUSH Performance. To get a look behind the scenes at what goes on at ROUSH and how the vehicles are designed, manufactured and produced logon to www.ROUSHtv.com . For more information see your local ROUSH dealer, visit www.ROUSHperformance.com or telephone toll-free (800) 59-ROUSH. Follow us on Twitter @_ROUSH_ or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/roushperformance.
It’s a guy thing………
Here’s a fun gift idea – if you don’t decide to keep it yourself! Ever wanted a throaty V8 sound but ‘social responsibility’ held you back? Ever wanted to hear that heavenly small-block symphony for hours on end but could not afford the invitable regular replacement tire bills? You and I both know that there’s nothing quite like the feeling of giving a highly tuned performance car a proper boot full. The screech of the tyres, the acceleration as it pushes you back into your seat - and the glorious, heart-stirring noise!
But tires and noise pollution tickets are expensive - and the prevailing attitude to road safety these days is that anything fun is to be punished in the harshest way possible - so the majority of cars are becoming quieter, more economical and generally less exciting to drive than ever before.
Well, here’s a gadget that turns your ‘responsible’ family hack into a small-block screamer – without any of the aforementioned disadvantages (well, in the driver’s mind anyway). It is called a Soundracer V8 and although I personally haven’t used it, it sounds like a whole mess of fun. It does a ‘Superman’ number on your car – changing it from the cardigan-clad Clark Kent to the guy in lycra wearing his undies on the outside!
The SoundRacer plugs into the cigarette lighter socket of your meek and mild family car, then sends an FM signal to your car stereo that makes your car sound like a roaring V8, faithfully matching revs and basically making the meekest of cars feel like a monster truck. So you can enjoy the ribald hoon factor from the driver’s seat without looking or sounding like a ‘gearhead’ to passers-by or the local constabulary. Sample videos of the device being used in different cars all over the world are available on the web at: http://www.soundracer.se/
Here’s some details from the maker’s website:
SoundRacer has developed a special technology to sense and calculate the car’s engine rpm and produce the sounds of a powerful Super Sports Car engine. The sound changes as you drive and SoundRacer even increases the speed of the engine sound so that you can drive at a normal speed and still get a very exciting engine sound.
SoundRacer detects the small signals from the alternator on the 12V system in the car; it does not use ignition pulses. That is why it also works on diesel cars. Manual or automatic transmission makes no differense for SoundRacer; it works on both types but, of course, the rpm response is different on automatic transmission cars with hydraulic torque converters, because the rpm increases as soon as you press the gas pedal.
A built-in FM transmitter transfers the sounds on a selectable frequency to the car stereo system.
It also works as a standard car FM-transmitter for MP3 players, such as iPod and iPhone, with a line-in socket that provides an input for playing music on the car stereo. A cable with 2 x 3.5 mm stereo plugs are supplied in the box. As soon as you plug in the cable in the line-in socket on SoundRacer, the engine sound is disconnected. The other end of the cable you just plug into the headphone socket on your music player and then the music is heard in the car speakers.
Check it out. Just think – ‘Mom’s Taxi’ could become ‘Mom’s ZR1.’ According to the website, it is available in 22 countries – including Canada. More information on the Soundracer website: http://www.soundracer.se/.
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